Cristiano Ronaldo Makes History with 6th Euros Appearance

Cristiano Ronaldo has set another milestone in his illustrious career: he is now the first man to appear in six different editions of the European Championship.

The 39-year-old surpassed former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric by participating in Portugal's 2-1 victory over Czechia on Tuesday in the Euro 2024 opener. Modric had matched the previous record of five appearances last week during Croatia's match against Spain.

Ronaldo's European Championship journey began in 2004 when he played as a teenager on home soil. He played a pivotal role in Portugal's only continental title win in 2016. Additionally, he holds records for the most goals, most matches played, and most tournaments with a goal in the European Championship.

There were doubts about Ronaldo's future with the national team after former manager Fernando Santos benched him during the 2022 World Cup. However, since moving to Saudi club Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has reestablished himself as a key player under new manager Roberto Martinez, scoring 10 goals during the qualifying rounds for this summer's tournament.

In Portugal's final pre-tournament friendly against Ireland, Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes and scored twice, bringing his record tally to 130 goals in 207 international appearances. This performance followed a record-breaking season in the Saudi Pro League, where he set a new mark with 35 goals in a single season.

Martinez emphasized Ronaldo's merit-based selection: "Cristiano is in the team on merit, no one gets in by having a name," Martinez stated during Monday's pre-match press conference, as reported by Tim Spiers of The Athletic. "He scored 51 goals in 50 games and he scored 10 in qualifying.

"For us, he's a goalscorer, someone who can make that final move, stretch defenders, open spaces. He has changed his way of playing slightly, but he's in on merit and the numbers are there to back that up."

Ronaldo's teammate Pepe, also part of the current Portuguese squad, joined Modric in making his fifth European Championship appearance on Tuesday. At 41 years and 113 days old, Pepe is now the oldest player to feature in a European Championship, taking the record from Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who was 40 when he last appeared at Euro 2016.